Flappers Essay, Research Paper

Throughout history, there have always been “rebels” in society. During the 1920’s in the United States, many young people discarded the traditions of society. They subsequently, began flaunting their disdain for conventional dress and behavior in the society. The flappers of the 1920’s and the youth of today have shared many similar difficulties with the society’s acceptance of rebellion. Thus, youth has always struggled against the over critical opinions of adults.

With the passings of certain laws, women began to have a say in society. Young women understood this power and took advantage of it. Some went against common traditions of women hood and began a whole new tradition of their own. These women no longer acted the same way stereotypical women did. Cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children all day was significantly decreasing. Certain women took on new roles very similar to men’s but very different from the past. They hung out at bars and smoked and drank publicly. Their dress was also very different from the past. They wore very short dresses and used a lot of make-up. These actions were not at all accepted by society. Opposers of these women nicknamed the rebels Flappers. When asked why there was such a quick and drastic change some Flappers blamed their parents. They said that their parents were so very boring and they couldn’t stand to live like them. Change was needed. They thought that life was better for them then, than when their parents were their age. The Flappers wanted people to respect their point of view. Youth took itself very seriously. They did not want to be rebellious, they wanted their parents and society to be patient and understanding of their mistakes and accept change.

Much like the Flappers of the 1920’s, youth want change today. Youth today insist on having say in society. Teens of the 90’s, like the Flappers, are going against traditions and starting new traditions of their own because of the belief that their ways are better than their parents ways. Our rebellion is similar also similar in terms of actions, there is still smoking and drinking but mainly our “rebellion” comes in the fom of appearance. Adults seem to be ashamed of the way the youth dresses and acts, from hair styles to clothing styles. Today, individualism is sometimes mistaken for rebellion which is very similar to the Flappers. The youth in both cases want adults to support instead of correct. Adolesence is a time of finding out who you are. Different teens experiment with the different styles to figure out exactly who they want to be and what role they want to play in society. Similar to the Flappers, the youth just wants adults to respect their point of view because adults went through a very similar change process in the 1960’s establishing their own identity.

Throughout history, there have always been “rebels” to society. The youth of the 1920’s began discarding the traditions of society and soon began flaunting their disgust of conventional dress and behavior in the society. The Flappers of the 1920’s and the youth of today share many similar difficulties with society’s lack of acceptance to their rebellion. In comparing the youth of the 1920’s and the 1990’s it would seem that youth will always struggle against the over critical opinions of adults.